Review of To Mate An Assassin by Ceri Grenelle

I've always been a sucker for books with strong and cool female leads. I don't know if it has anything to do with feminism, but I just prefer women who can take care of themselves and not have to be rescued all the time. To Mate An Assassin promises that and a whole lot more. I can only take too much before I cave, so no judging!

Cymbeline Kendall’s life is quiet, solitary—until a letter appears in her P.O. box. Then she becomes an Incendiary, a human chosen at birth to be trained to strike like lightning to take out the most dangerous of the Werekind, then fade back into the shadows.

She is a weapon only to be used by the leader of North American shifters. But when she learns the Alphar was unseated three years ago, she sets out to find who’s been pulling her trigger.

Kerrick Masterson has borne the burden of leadership for only a short time, yet he already feels the Alphar power tempting his soul toward the insanity that destroyed his predecessor. He has no time for the woman who breaks into his compound claiming to be his Incendiary, but his beast insists he make the time—for his mate.

In one searing, soul-consuming breath, everything Cymbeline was taught to believe is ripped away. Yet the mystery of who’s been sending her orders remains…and finding the answer could lead to all-out war.

Warning: Contains an assassin who doesn’t tolerate those who hurt the weak, and a shifter leader determined to unlock his new mate’s repressed emotions—even if that puts his balls at risk. Explicit sex, violence, and references to abuse that could be rough on sensitive readers.

Cymbeline Kendall is physically strong but emotionally dead--almost. The only thing she allows herself to feel is anger and impatience. She went through a lot of pain to become who she is now and she's not willing to change because somebody tells her something about "true self".

Kerrick Masterson is a strong and capable Alpha. However, it feels as though he's constantly fighting with himself, even more so when he met his mate. He instantly feels the pull, and he has no intention of fighting it. If only she would stop fighting so damn hard too.

REVIEW:

From the very first page, I already knew that I would end up liking this book a lot. I absolutely loved Cymbeline; she's strong, independent, and has a dark sense of humour. Actually, To Mate an Assassin as a whole, has this sarcastic-like dark humour that really appealed to me. I don't really read lots of werewolf books, so I don't know if the storyline is kind of cliche, but for me, I liked it. There were unexpected twists, fight scenes that made me grit my teeth from utter excitement and steaming hot intimate scenes that were just off the charts. (Spoiler alert! There are lots of biting and blood. Yum.) I should note that I am quite picky when it comes to sexed-up books because I've already read quite a lot of them. The story progresses really well, the pace fast, but not confusing. I got to say, at first I thought the lead characters were going to jump each other's bones quite early, but I was very wrong, and I liked it. They--or rather, Cymbeline--didn't give in to the need too soon. There was build up to the sexual tension, and it was well worth it, in my opinion. I didn't expect it to have that kind of ending though, but hey! There's room for more.

SUMMARY:

To Mate An Assassin is an engaging and exciting book that continues at a perfect pace. I look forward to reading the following instalments in the series.

RATING:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I've always had an active imagination. An imagination that usually took form in the way of zoning out in the middle of conversations. I eventually decided it was time to share my daydreaming with the world and began to put my musings on paper. It started with Harry Potter fanfiction and grew from there.

I am currently living it up in Northern California after a big move from New York City. And by living it up I mean staying home with my cats, obsessively watching episodes of my favorite TV shows, all of which are extremely geeky, and simultaneously reading the next book on my reading list. I do all this while trying not to pig out on unhealthy snacks. As you can tell, I lead a busy life.